Money Talk

 US inflation in August came in hotter than expected, surprising financial market participants and prompting a steep selloff on Wall Street for US shares.  The consumer price index increased 0.1% last month, above economists’ expectations for a 0.1% dr...

 China’s foreign ministry has confirmed that President Xi Jinping will visit Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan this week. It will be President Xi’s first foreign trip since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic in January 2020. The visit will coincide with a ...

The European Central Bank has raised all of its key interest rates by 75bps and warned that it was likely to raise rates again later this year. The ECB raised its key deposit rate from zero to 0.75%, the highest level since 2011, and lifted its main re...

 China’s latest customs data shows trade with the mainland slowed sharply in August, adding to the evidence of a rapidly cooling economy. China’s export growth slowed to 7.1% in August from 18% in July, the weakest growth in export volumes since March....

 The latest economic data from the US shows a more robust US economy than expected, sending stocks and bonds on Wall Street lower. The Institute for Supply Management said its services purchasing managers index came in at 56.9 for August, beating econo...

 Activity in China’s private services sector slowed in August as Covid-related lockdowns intensified. The Caixin Services Purchasing Managers Index fell to 55.0 from 55.5 in July, but remained well in expansionary territory, beating economists’ forecas...

 US employers added 315,000 new positions last month. Whilst that was below the surprisingly strong 526,000 hires in July, it was slightly better than economists’ forecasts of 300,000. The unemployment rate rose to 3.7%, equalling the highest level of ...

 Activity in China’s private manufacturing sector unexpectedly fell into contraction last month. The Caixin PMI Manufacturing Index fell to 49.5 in August from 50.4 in July, hitting the lowest since a two-month lockdown in Shanghai was lifted in June. ...

 The latest official purchasing managers’ index data from the mainland showed China’s manufacturing industry contracted for the second straight month in August, as Covid related lockdowns, a once in a century heatwave and drought and the crisis-hit pro...

 The Chinese Communist Party’s 20th National Congress will open in Beijing on October 16. The meeting, held every five years behind closed doors, is the highest level political conclave of the country's leaders to formulate major policy and elect a new...

 Business optimism in China has tumbled to an all-time low according to a new survey from the US-China Business Council, a nonprofit and nonpartisan organisation representing 270 American companies, whose goal is promoting trade between the United Stat...

 Jerome Powell’s hawkish comments Friday sent US stocks plummeting more than 3%. The Federal Reserve chairman said at the annual symposium of central bankers, gathered in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, that the Fed “must keep at it until the job is done” on in...

 The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the US and China are nearing an agreement that would allow American accounting regulators to travel to Hong Kong to inspect the audit records of Chinese companies listed in New York. More than 200 US-listed Ch...

 Business activity in the US, Europe, Japan and Australia fell in August, according to new surveys, pointing to a sharp slowdown in global economic growth. Activity around the world is being hit by surging oil and gas prices, rampant inflation which is...

 China has cut its benchmark lending rates, adding to easing measures announced last week, as Beijing steps up efforts to spur credit demand in an economy hobbled by a property crisis and a resurgence of Covid infections. The one-year loan prime rate (...

 Indonesia’s president Joko Widodo confirmed Friday that Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin will attend the G20 meeting in Bali in November, despite Western pressure for the Russian leader not to be invited. The White House said Friday that Ukrainian Presid...

The US and Taiwan have started talks aimed at reaching a bilateral trade agreement. The negotiations will cover agriculture and technology among 11 trade sectors in the negotiating mandate. Negotiators have been told to discuss agriculture practices an...

 The minutes of the Federal Reserve's July Monetary Policy Meeting report that policymakers see interest rate increases continuing until inflation eases substantially. Fed officials discussed the need to keep interest rates at levels that restrict the ...

 Chinese state-owned groups could guarantee the renminbi bonds of troubled property developers, easing some of their financing woes. Yesterday, online financial news platform REDD said Chinese regulators plan to provide liquidity support to five or six...

 China has unexpectedly cut key interest rates as the latest economic data showed an alarming slowdown in the economy. The People’s Bank of China cut both the 1-year Medium Term Lending Facility and 7-day reverse repo rates. 1-year MLF loan rates were ...